5 Inspiring TED Talks about Learning and Making

Inspiration is always around the corner, all you have to do is go look for it. But many a times, inspiration lands up in your Inbox or on your feed and so it happened when I watched the TED Talk about Ken Robinson about the learning revolution, idly surfing the web. It’s a beautiful talk, laced with Ken Robinson’s standard humour. His words and good candour laugh inspired me to think of ways we can change the world around us and for our children. It also set in motion a search for more talks and speakers. Talks that inform, inspire and becomes an internal call for action, that recharge your Low-on-inspiration battery alert and get you moving and making.

Check out this hand-curated list of inspiring TED Talks around learning and making and let the words of these visionaries become a call to action for you.

First on the list- the talk that started it all. Ken Robinson is an expert educator and has some wonderful ideas and insights around education and learning. Watch the TED talk and let Robinson convince you that we need a learning revolution. Are maker spaces the answer? Maybe. Only time will tell.

Massimo Banzi worked with team that developed Arduino. Something all makers have either worked with, tinkered with or know of. Watch it to see how a little innovation can go a long way in enabling communities to build great stuff.

Designer Danit Peleg was in a dilemma-What shall I wear? And she designed a solution to her dilemma by 3D printing her dress for a conference. This started another conversation around 3D printing and what it can achieve. Wearables are only the beginning- marathon runners are wearing 3D printed shoes, we have 3D printed cars, prosthetics, architecture and more. This is a technology that has revolutionised prototyping and product design but has also increasingly personalised it.

I love the Makey-Makey Kit, it’s fun, simple, easy to use and offer endless possibilities. And that’s exactly what the maker of this kit talks about while asking us to think about our relationship with things around us. His ask from the listeners- Why do we leave all the fun great stuff to the experts? Why aren’t we defining our own relationships with the world around us? Why aren’t we hacking the old and building the new?

We are all makers, whether we believe it or not- better for us if we believe it. This talk, hosted by MAKE magazine publisher Dale Dougherty believes it and shows it to you, so you believe it too. In the end, he leaves the audience with a simple statement, even if we aren’t convinced we are makers, the future generation surely will be.

Still running low on inspiration? Head over to our Maker Space and build, tinker and play. Don’t know where to start? Check out our workshops and event page. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated on the latest happenings inside our Maker Space.